This week I picked up my September issue of Eastern Surfing Magazine and was pleased to see they devoted nearly the entire issue to some of the environmental issues that effect our coasts and oceans.

One might think that it isn’t so unusual seeing as how the health of our oceans effect surfers and anglers but when you think about it further it truly was a courageous act for a large publication or any organization, for that matter, that has such a large readership or dependency on advertisers and followers.

Let’s put aside the fact that they presented their article in a very fair manner. The truth is, whenever you take a stand on such an important and controversial issue one always runs the risk of upsetting a good percentage of your readership, customers and advertisers and thusly also risking the loss of income from doing so.

I’m involved with the Surfrider Foundations Ocean Friendly Garden program and I am often challenged by people over the things I/we stand for, the principals we profess as well as the things I say relative to the environmental issues we are facing and how we can help alleviate them. The difference is that I don’t have a big corporate job I can lose due to what I say and do and it won’t hurt me financially.

When a publication, a company or an individual who works for a large corporation speaks out on a subject and takes a stand It’s a different matter altogether and I believe it shows even a greater degree of gumption as they do have a great deal to potentially lose.

Bottom line, I firmly believe that if you feel passionately about something, whether it be about the environment, equality, peace or whatever controversial issue you care about, then it’s important that you speak out and take a stand.

Sure it may cost you a friend or a position or some income but in the end how important are those things if in the end you don’t feel good about yourself or what you are doing. Just look at the life of Martin Luther King. he took a stand on equality. Sure it cost him all of those things including his life but in the end his legacy and death helped to change the world.

Thanks for checking in and I hope such actions like ESM took will lead you and others to take a stand on the things you believe in. have a great week and I look forward to seeing you back here again next week.

Aloha, Paul